Mumbai Indians made it two wins in a row as they beat Punjab Kings in Match 46 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
MI put on a chasing masterclass as Ishan Kishan (75 off 41) and Impact Player Suryakumar Yadav’s (66 off 31) blistering knocks helped the away side chase down 215 after Liam Livingstone (82* off 42) and Jitesh Sharma’s (49* off 27) aggressive knocks had powered PBKS to 214/3 in the first innings.
Tilak Varma(26* off 10) and Tim David (19* off 10) provided the finishing touches to power MI to a thumping six-wicket win.
Chasing 215, Mumbai Indians were jolted early as they lost Rohit Sharma off just the third ball of the innings as he sliced one uppishly to deep point off Rishi Dhawan.
Ishan Kishan and Cameron Green then went on the counter attack as they hit a flurry of fours. Kishan went after Rishi Dhawan in the fifth over and hit him for a couple of sixes into the stands before Green ended the over with a four to make it 17 off the over.
It was Impact Player Nathan Ellis, who created an immediate impact to break the 54-run stand as he had Green (23 off 18) caught at deep mid-wicket off a slower one as MI reached 54/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
MI’s Impact Player, Suryakumar Yadav, then strode out to bat at No.3 (He replaced debutant Akash Madhwal).
After a couple of quiet overs, Kishan released the pressure valve smacking a six and a four off Harpreet Brar. The duo went after Chahar in the next over, cracking three fours to make it 27 from two over. Kishan brought up his fifty off 29 balls. Suryakumar Yadav then took the attack to Curran hitting a couple of sublime sixes over the off side before thumping one down the ground for a four off the next ball. He brought up his fifty off 23 balls with his quintessential pick-up flick to fine leg for four as MI accumulated 23 runs off the Curran over.
Suryakumar Yadav brought up the 100-run stand with Kishan, off just 52 balls as he flicked one over mid-wicket for a four off Arshdeep. Kishan went after Arshdeep in the same over, smashing two fours and a six to make it 21 off the over. PBKS needed a wicket desperately and Impact Player Ellis provided the impact moment to send back Impact Player Suryakumar Yadav (66 off 31) as Arshdeep pulled off a very good leaping catch at short third man. With 37 needed off 24, Arshdeep bounced back hard, after being hit for 21 in the previous over, to have Kishan (75 off 41) caught at fine leg. Tilak Varma though got going straight away as he got off the mark with a thumping six over deep mid-wicket, then paddled one for a four and then swung one over deep square leg for another six to turn tables and bring the equation down to 21 off 18. Tim David and Tilak Varma took 9 off the Curran over as the equation read 12 needed off 12.
David Sliced the first ball of the penultimate over from Arshdeep over third man for a four and with five needed off 8, Tilak Varma finished it off in style with a massive six over long off to win it for the away side. David remained unbeaten on 19 (10) while Varma remained not out on 26(10).
Earlier, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl. They made two changes to the starting XI as Nehal Wadhera and debutant Akash Madhwal replaced Suryakumar Yadav and Riley Meredith. They named Suryakumar Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Vishnu Vinod and Ramaneep Singh as their substitutes.
Punjab Kings made three changes to the starting eleven as Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short and Rishi Dhawan replaced Atharva Taide, Kagiso Rabada and Sikandar Raza. Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Mohit Rathee and Shivam Singh made it to the home side’s substitutes list.
Mumbai Indians got off to a good start as Arshad Khan removed Prabhsimran Singh (9 off 7) early, in the second over, caught behind. Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh had hit a well-timed four each to get into the groove but Prabhsimran didn’t last long as he edged one to the keeper while looking to slash at one outside off.
Shikhar Dhawan and Matthew Short then steadied the ship with a mix of attack and defence as Short smacked a four and a six off Arshad before Dhawan welcomed Chawla into the attack with two consecutive fours to take PBKS to 50/1 at the end of the Powerplay. Dhawan then got a reprieve in the next over as Jofra Archer put down a touch chance at backward point. Dhawan’s luck didn’t last long as he was stumped in the next over, off Chawla. It was a fantastic battle brewing as Dhawan charged down the track first ball and smacked a four straight down the ground. Chawla hit back hard as he saw Dhawan charging again and dragged his length short to outfox Dhawan (30 off 20 balls) and have him stumped via a googly. The next two overs went for just 13 as PBKS reached 78/2 at the halfway mark.
Livingstone looked to up the ante as he welcomed Akash Madhwal into the attack with a four and a six to accumulate 16 off the 11th over. Chawla then sent back the other opener as he cleaned up Short (27 off 26) via a googly. Short went for a swing across the line but missed it completely. Jitesh Sharma was into the action straightaway as he cracked three fours off Archer to take 21 from the over and it changed the momentum of the innings. It was a much-needed impetus that PBKS required. Livingstone then got into the act as he took on Arshad Khan and hit three fours to bring up the 50-run stand off just 24 balls. The England batter brought up his fifty off 32 balls with a thumping four over extra cover. PBKS amassed 67/0 in the 13-17-over phase. Liam Livingstone then went berserk against Archer as he hit three consecutive power-packed sixes as PBKS smashed 27 runs in the penultimate over. Akash Madhwal bowled an excellent last over in the context of the game to concede just 9 as PBKS posted 214/3. The home side amassed 69/0 in the last five overs. Livingstone remained unbeaten on 82 off 42 balls while Jitesh Sharma remained not out on 49 off 27.
PBKS brought on Nathan Ellis as their Impact Player, replacing Prabhsimran Singh, at the start of their bowling innings.
